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Old School

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 16, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 16.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0
  • Common Sense says

    Very politically incorrect; funny for many adults.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 16–18

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Diverse characters who are very loyal and supportive.
  • Violence:

    Not an issue.
  • Sex:

    Nudity and sexual situations.
  • Language:

    Very strong frat-house language.
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Drinking as male bonding, including drinking to excess.

What Parents Need to Know

This review of Old School was written by Nell Minow

Parents need to know that this movie has a great deal of very mature and sometimes offensive material. There are homophobic references, a stereotyped Jewish character (wearing a "chai" necklace) shows up for group sex, characters drink to excess, and have casual sex. There are references to group sex and to other activities like wrestling with topless girls covered in KY jelly. There is a "fun" blow-up doll. A group of women hire a man to teach them how to give oral sex and we see them practicing on vegetables. The fraternity is welcoming to men of all races and ages and -- aside from some hazing of the pledges -- the men are all very supportive of each other. One character who seems most bent on abandoning all rules turns down sex with a young woman because he will not cheat on his wife.

Families Can Talk About

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  • Families can talk about whether people need to feel that their responsibilities are suffocating when they become adults.
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More on Old School

What’s the Story?

Think of OLD SCHOOL as the reunion of the gang from Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds. Three 30-year-old men, feeling squashed by responsibilities, end up turning a house into a fraternity with all of the fun of torturing pledges, throwing wild parties, and essentially relinquishing all trappings of civilization.

Is It Any Good?

After a long, long series of gross-out slob would-be comedies that thought it was enough to be disgusting, it is a relief if not always a pleasure to see one that has some very funny moments. Yes, it is morally bankrupt and completely politically incorrect. But what can I say, I laughed.

In even the best of this genre, there is about a five-to-one joke ratio of failures to successes. It really isn't very funny when a character finds out after the fact that the young lady he had sex with while drunk was not just a high school student, but the daughter of his boss; when a character calls out "earmuffs" to his six year old son so that the boy will cover his ears when his father is about to use bad language; when a character's wife asks for a divorce just weeks after their marriage; or when an elderly character is so struck by the sight of slicked-up topless girls waiting to wrestle him that he keels over dead. But over and over, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn throw themselves so completely into the material that they make it work much more often than it deserves.

Movie Details

Studio: Dreamworks SKG, Director: Todd Phillips
Run time: 90 minutes
Theatrical release: 02/21/2003, DVD release: 06/10/2003
MPAA Rating: R for some strong sexual content, nudity, and language

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Our Members Say

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Massachusetts
    I rate this title off for age 15 and give it 5.0
    • My concerns are:
    • Inappropriate sexual content
    • Inappropriate language

    Very Funny Movie

    This is a very funny movie. There is some nudity (brief topless girl at beggining, will ferrells butt, and two topless girls) there is also a class that im not gonna rite about. The language contains mostly the f-word but does no contain it as much as newer movies. This should be fine for 16+ myabe 15.

  2. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in California
    I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it 4.0

    A funny college movie

    This movie was really funny but the content was definately about college parties so there was a lot of drinking, smoking and sex related material. A funny movie for people of an appropriate age.

  3. Adult Reviewer
    I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it 5.0

    I love this movie

    This movie is very very funny and a must see for comedy fans. Though it contains sexual content(including topless woman,a mans butt,breif porn,and sex dolls), and language(including sexual references)it is all really there for laughs. There is no scene of sex that doesn't make you laugh, or scenes of strong language that don't make you laugh. This movie is pretty inappropriate at times, but is all just good old fun and I couldn't stop laughing the entire time. Another thing is that If your not old enough to get some of the jokes than there is no harm in you seeing this. If you understand the jokes and really want to see this than you should be at least 12(depending on your parents rules) but probably more like 14. Awesome movie and one of my favorites.

  4. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Michigan
    I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it 3.0

    A funny movie

  5. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Minnesota
    I rate this title off for age 0 and give it 4.0

    god......................

    this is sooo not for some one under the age of 17

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